TV REVIEW: FTN reviews Clone Wars SO5EO7 A Test Of Strength

As the Jedi younglings travel on a ship back home, they gain instruction on proper construction of a lightsaber. The pirate Hondo has other ideas in mind as he hijacks the ship to steal the Force crystals the young Jedi harvested last week.

This week sees part two in a story arc focusing on a group of young Jedi learning how to build the closest ally a Jedi has, his or hers lightsaber. To do so they take instruction from Professor Huyang, a droid who has stored data on every lightsaber a Jedi has made as well as teaching them how to build the sabers. Voiced by former Dr. Who David Tennant, Huyang is an excellent character. I liked the patience he showed dealing with the children, especially Petro, and the way he chose to pass down knowledge would have quickly made him my favorite teacher. He reminded me of a professor at Hogwarts using visual lessons to teach the children what they need to know. I’m hoping he sticks around a bit more as the children didn’t get their chance to build their sabers.

En route back to the temple they find their ship being hijacked by none other then my favorite Star Wars pirate, Hondo. Hondo is looking to take the Force crystals the children had harvested for sale on the black market. Boarding the ship the pirates encounter a set of nifty little traps the young ones have set to fight off the pirates as they make their way to secure holds so they can pull away from the boarding tube and suck the pirates off the ship with the vacuum that would be created by detaching from the tube. The traps were pretty cool and once again reminded me of The Goonies and the traps that Data would use to fend off the bad guys chasing the kids. I especially liked how they used the zapping balls to attack a few pirates. What a cool little scene. There were some nice little moments of tension when the kids try to escape the invading pirates, I found myself cheering for their escape and audibly getting mad when they wouldn’t just take Ashoka’s directions.

Huyang delivered a nice headless and armless butt kicking on a pirate proving that he’s more than just a teaching droid. Ahsoka had some nice action scenes too, particularly the part where she flips and drags Hondo out of the ship once the vacuum starts doing its thing, the scene was executed quite beautifully. Things backfire for her though as she finds herself swept away with the pirates and eventually in their custody. I’m hoping for a maturing episode next week where the younglings take it upon themselves to rescue Ahsoka. I once again found myself focused on the brash youngling Petro. All of his actions remind me of Anakin and I really think that the authors of the expanded universe should take note of this character and find a place for him in canon as Jedi turned to the darkside. How cool would that be? This arc is unfolding nicely and though I’m not anxious for the next episode, I’m definitely enjoying the ride. The Clone Wars has often been a brutal and dark series, so the lighthearted breather is kind of nice.

Christopher is self-billed as the World's Coolest Nerd (meaning he wears glasses and is clumsy, but he never earned good marks in school). He loves all things Star Wars and superhero related such as comics, books, cartoons and movies. He's a husband and father who somehow manages to keep up with his pastimes since his day job mainly consists of sitting around a store with not much to do. He's very outspoken and wants to share his opinions with the world, or at least his fellow nerds. You can follow him on Twitter @AUDone44.

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